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Tuesday, 22 November 2011

artist showcase #4

Life got in the way of this feature a little.. but I have three or four of these badboys lined up for the next few weeks! Kicking off with Alex Digard...

1. Can you give us a little bit of your background?

Im Alex, 24, originally from an island called Guernsey and now based in Bristol. I make a mixture of pictures and words for various people.

2. Did anything in particular make you go into your field of work?

I started taking photos of my friends riding BMX when I was 14, I haven’t put the camera down since...The Dischord records artwork was what first gave me an interest in design and wanting to learn more about it...I don’t really know, I do what I do because I can’t do anything else, not that I’d want to...

3. What inspires you?

Be-Bop, New Journalism, record shops, wood cut typography, vinyl freaks, Detroit Techno, fresh coffee, DIY culture, House music...In short, records...everything about them from the smell, to the artwork on the sleeve. They are far more than just music pressed into them, it’s an entire way of life. Analog Love.

4. How do you work?

Late at night mostly, I share a studio on Stokes Croft with a few other people, most of the ‘work’ gets done there but the ideas seem to come around while I'm reading a book in the cafe down the road...

5. What's your favourite medium to work with?

Photocopiers, typewriters, ink-stamps and Kodak portra 800. Basically all the ingredients for making a zine...They are my favourite thing to make by far.

6. Which piece of work are you most proud of?

The ‘Worth The Weight’ CD cover and booklet stands out but then so does the ‘Analog love’ zine that I made for my first solo exhibition...That was the first time I felt I had made something that was really in my own style. There’s still a couple of copies left here too ;)

7. What are you upto right now (work-wise)?

I'm currently the art director for a Bristol based record label called Gutterfunk, our first record is due to hit shelves late November so that’s been keeping me pretty busy, its been very satisfying seeing the project develop from a rough idea on the back of a cigarette packet to something tangible that people are keen to get their hands on. I'm also working with a few other people on the first edition of an independent newspaper covering underground and experimental electronic music, but more on that another time...

8. Anything else you think we should know?

Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity.Charles Mingus